Bfsg LLC Has $1.07 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Bfsg LLC trimmed its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,968 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 599 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,761,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,621,336,000 after purchasing an additional 273,645 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,866 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,644,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $272,033,000 after purchasing an additional 78,781 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 91.2% during the 3rd quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,464,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $150,629,000 after purchasing an additional 698,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,461,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $150,303,000 after purchasing an additional 506,935 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES traded down $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $135.95. 1,123,843 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,022,197. The firm has a market cap of $42.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $133.15 and its 200 day moving average is $120.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total value of $5,154,680.90. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,727,419.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 80,637 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total transaction of $10,906,154.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,116,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,030,429. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total transaction of $5,154,680.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,727,419.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946. 47.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.17.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.